Russian Doll is a Netflix series about a woman named Nadia who finds herself stuck reliving the same day over and over again. Her main objective is to find out why she keeps reliving the same day and how to stop it. I enjoyed this show mostly because of its well-developed characters. Initially, I did not know how to feel about Nadia. She seemed to be a self-absorbed person with self-destructive behavior. However, the show did a great job at gradually revealing why Nadia acts the way she does. Undoubtedly, she is a complex character. She acts like she does not care about herself and avoids getting too attached to other people. Her unhealthy relationship with her mother caused her to carry a lot of bitterness and anger. Essentially, she tries to forget her traumatic past by living a carefree lifestyle. As the series progressed, I saw how Nadia is not actually a bad person, but simply someone struggling to deal with the trauma of their past.
Even though Nadia is an independent and tough character, I enjoyed her more vulnerable moments. This includes her reaction to Alan finding the photos of her mother, her discussions with her therapist, or her interactions with Horse. I like that Nadia is forced to become more vulnerable with Alan as they look for a way out of their situation.
Alan is a complicated character as well. I find it interesting how his personality is the opposite of Nadia’s, yet he mirrors her in other ways. For example, both of them have self-destructive behavior. Nadia smokes and does so many drugs people are surprised she is still living. On the other hand, Alan struggles with depression and thoughts of suicide. It is even revealed that he committed suicide for his first death. Without a doubt, Nadia and Alan’s relationship is one of the most intriguing aspects of the show.
The only issue I had with the show was with its repetitiveness. During the first few episodes, I grew tired of watching Nadia relive the same day over again. I also became annoyed every time I heard Harry Nilsson’s song “Gotta Get Up” play every time Nadia woke up in the bathroom. However, I understand the show’s creators decision for doing this. Essentially, the viewer becomes frustrated just like Nadia because they are forced to rewatch (or relive) the same scene. Overall, watching Russian Doll was an enjoyable experience for me and I rate it 4/5 stars. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a dark comedy with well-developed characters.